Hundreds of chocolate-makers came to St. Louis for the 94th annual Retail Confectioners International (RCI) convention this week, and three busloads (about 150) of them came through Maplewood Friday, stopping first at Kakao Chocolate.
Kakao owner, Brian Pelletier, is on the RCI executive board. He said RCI is an open, sharing organization.
“These are chocolatiers from across the country,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for years for the opportunity to have them in my shop and show off what we’re doing.”
Angie Burlison, RCI executive director said it’s great for the RCI members to visit Maplewood and see what other stores are doing and how they’re working with the community.
She said Pelletier is a unique candy-maker, as far as the RCI membership goes.
“He does a lot of naturally and locally-sourced chocolates,” she said, “so it’s fun to see the artisan side of things. He’s always mixing it up.”